


Let's Do Lunch

by Fabrisse



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:35:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/pseuds/Fabrisse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine has a lunch date with Burt Hummel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Do Lunch

"Kurt, look, I'm sorry. I have a lunch date this Saturday that I can't break. Maybe we could go to a movie around four?"

"As long as it's not that horrible Nicholas Cage thing," Kurt said.

"No. There's no excuse for that movie. _Tron: Legacy_ is at the dollar cinema in 3-D." Blaine put on the puppy dog eyes, and Kurt smiled.

"All right. I'll meet you there at three-thirty."

***  
Every city with a boarding school has a restaurant that's about three blocks away, a little nicer than the students would usually go to, and has decent food. It's the one where the students eat with their parents just before graduation or on homecoming weekend. It was the one restaurant Blaine felt safe suggesting for his lunch date because no Dalton student would be caught dead in it without a parent.

Burt Hummel was waiting for him. He was wearing a navy blazer, a pair of khakis, and a vibrantly yellow argyle sweater with them. Burt grinned, "It was a Christmas present from Kurt. I think it's good, though, 'cause Carole compliments me every time I wear it."

"I am always amazed at how well Kurt can pick clothes, sir."

Burt motioned for him to sit, and Blaine did so. The waiter brought the menus pretty quickly, and they both ordered cups of soup and large salads for their meals.

"I guess you're wondering why I asked to meet with you, without Kurt," Burt began.

"Yes, sir."

"Call me Burt. And, it comes down to the fact that the school keeps you pretty locked up. It's not easy to find a way to talk to you."

"About?"

"You. You're dating my son. I want to know more about you."

Blaine nodded. "Like?"

"Like how do your parents feel about you dating Kurt. I'm pretty sure you're not a mechanic's kid, so there might be some issues around that."

"My dad brought me up with the idea that class was important, but malleable. He thought aristocracies," and Blaine rolled his eyes at the idea, "only worked if they kept bringing in more vigorous meritorious stock. Kurt is elegant, intelligent, witty, and beautiful. If Kurt were female and my family still spoke to me, they'd be ecstatic."

The waiter dropped off their soups, and Burt went very still. "Your family isn't speaking to you? Who's covering your school fees?"

"It was a deal my Aunt Kent worked out with my parents. She offered to adopt me or make me her ward or any of the other legal ways she could take over as my main parent, but Dad wouldn't allow it. Nor would he allow the state of Illinois to take over my guardianship. Instead, I was sent to boarding school a couple of states away -- a good one, but not a famous one -- so they don't have to see me. I spend most of my vacations with Aunt Kent or the families of friends. Summer is spent at a camp in Wisconsin where I'm now a counselor, so it doesn't cost anything. And thirteen months from now, I'll be formally disowned."

Burt stared at him. "Because you're gay?"

"Yes." Blaine took a spoonful of soup. "This is pretty good. I'll have to remember it."

"What about your mother?"

Blaine continued to eat his soup while he framed an answer. "Dad thinks I'm gay by choice. That somehow I'm gay because I want to hurt the family name or get him to notice me. He also accused my mother of cheating on him with another man because there was no way a son of his could be a …well, be like me. Mom thinks I'll come around some day and find a nice girl, but won't talk to me until I do. My younger sister," he swallowed hard and continued, "I thought I'd gotten her Christmas and birthday cards returned unopened by our parents, so a couple of weeks ago I texted her a 'Happy New Year.' Her response was that she didn't have a brother. A few days later, I got a letter from her via my attorney -- and yes, I have my own thanks to Aunt Kent -- where she flat out called all gay people evil."

Burt winced. "I'm sorry, kid."

"It's bad, but financially, I'm fine. My parents pay my school fees and have informed me that my lovely parting gift from the family will be to pay for my final trimester at Dalton. I have trust funds, including one for Cornell -- if I make it in -- which will cover my full tuition, housing, fees, and books -- or if I can get a scholarship elsewhere, I could use it for graduate school. There might even be pocket money, thanks to the way my grandfather set it up. And there are even two more trusts that I'll get if I make it to my twenty-fifth and thirty-fifth birthdays. I just don't have parents -- although Aunt Kent is a better than average substitute."

"How much of this does Kurt know?"

"All of it. It sounds petty, but my sister -- when I got her letter, I cried." Blaine looked embarrassed. "Kurt listened. I think his shoulders may still be damp."

"It's not petty. Family is important. I can't imagine what it might be like for you. Or how a father could do that to a son."

Their main courses arrived.

Burt grinned at Blaine, "Don't tell Kurt I got the steak salad. He's trying to get me to cut back on red meat."

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Burt said, "What I really came here to find out was how you feel about Kurt."

Blaine sat back in his chair. "One or two of the teachers have had a quiet word with either Kurt or me about our relationship -- making certain we're both aware of the rules of the school -- you're the first adult to ask about it like it's something that could last."

"Kurt's mother was nine months younger than me. Transferred into our high school as a sophomore when I was a junior and graduated as the salutatorian the same year I did. He gets his intelligence from her. The good looks are from me."

Blaine grinned at him. "Yes, they are, sir. Burt."

"Don't you get into trouble for lying at that fancy school?"

"Social lies are acceptable," Blaine said. "And I know, from so many things Kurt's mentioned, that he gets his good heart and good sense from you."

"Yeah, well, my heart is on borrowed time, and if he had the good sense God gave a goose, as my mother used to say, he'd have told me about the bullies sooner."

"I'll concede that point."

"I had nearly twenty years with Anna from the day I met her until the day I lost her. It was, well, I'm not sure 'love' is the right word, but there was _something_ between us at first sight. And every time I saw her until I closed her eyes in that hospital bed, it got deeper. God knows, I love Carole -- and I'm pretty sure it's mutual -- but Anna was the twenty best years of my life. Now, I don't know you. But I know Kurt, and it's possible for you two to be something that lasts."

"Kurt's special. When he came to Dalton for the first time to spy on us, he stopped me and it felt like something important had happened." Blaine took a sip of his water.

"So are you having sex?"

Blaine choked. "We're both over the age of consent."

"Didn't say you weren't. I asked if you two are screwing."

Blaine's hand slapped the table, and then he looked embarrassed by his reaction. "It really isn't any of your business." He took a deep breath and continued, "But Kurt isn't the only one who came into this relationship a virgin."

"Fair enough." Burt took the last few bites of his salad and said, "I needed to know if you had enough guts to stand up for yourself. Kurt can be a bit of a steamroller, and no one deserves that out of a relationship."

Blaine nodded and motioned to the waiter for another iced tea.

"I do have a couple of questions about how you guys handle dating at that school. I mean, I know there's a zero tolerance policy on bullying, but there're also an awful lot of rules."

"Including some unwritten ones. Straight guys can't have their girlfriends on the hall. The only women allowed in the dorms -- other than on First Day, Last Day, and Homecoming -- are mothers or other guardians. No one minds if Kurt and I, for lack of a better term, cuddle on Friday movie night. Well, there's one guy who does, but if he's there before us, Kurt and I go out to the mall or grab an ice cream, and if we're there before him, he doesn't stay for the movie. The one time there was a movie all three of us really needed to see, Kurt sat in a chair behind the sofa I was sitting on. But generally, as long as we don't do more than steal a couple of kisses, no one cares."

"You telling me that no one at that school is getting any, because I remember being a teenager. I think we were a hell of a lot more inventive."

Blaine said, "If either Kurt or I had a close friend among the day students, I'm sure inventiveness could come into play. There are a couple of make-out spots on campus. They're not covered in the rules, but if you're seen then you've violated the 'public display of affection' rules, so… Plus, as boarding students, the house counselor is allowed to check our rooms at any time. He's done it a couple of times when Kurt's been studying in my room."

"What do you want to do with your life?" Burt asked.

"Engineer or Architect -- I'd really like to combine both. Not urban planning, but the practical side of how to keep the best in our cities and make them more sustainable -- that fascinates me. Learning how to build for it or adapt buildings, because tearing old ones down is often more environmentally damaging than working with the old, is one possibility. I… I'm talking too much." He smiled a little ruefully.

"You have a passion. A man without one just exists. I don't know if Kurt's found one yet. I know he wants out of Ohio, and heaven knows he's smart enough, but I haven't seen him passionate like that. Not even about performing."

"Languages. He's got a real talent for them. He's in an advanced French class and the Spanish teacher thinks that with a summer course, he could do advanced Spanish next year. He lights up with languages. I don't know if Kurt realizes it yet, but that's definitely one road I could see him on. And he talks a lot about how much he misses cooking."

"Cooking? I thought his clothes came first."

"He likes wearing great clothes, and he'll make them or tailor them himself if he has to. And I know he really likes performing, but, yeah, it's cooking he talks about. And as for leaving Ohio, the Cordon Bleu in Paris would definitely be different."

Burt smiled. "It would be. I know he did a lot of research to change my diet and still make it taste good. Hmm. Chef."

"Or maybe he'll join the Foreign Service. As I said, languages seem to use his brain in ways that he really likes."

"Don't get me wrong, I don't think he needs to know now, what his life will be. I just wanted to know Kurt felt like he had something," Burt said.

Blaine nodded and sipped his tea. "May I ask you a question or two?"

"Shoot. Worst I can do is hit the table and tell you it's none of your business, right?"

"Were you disappointed when Kurt came out to you?"

Burt shook his head. "I'd known for years. I won't pretend that it's what I wanted for him, but most of that is knowing how hard people would try to make the world for him. A father always wants to see his kid happy, and there seem to be a whole lot of people who don't want Kurt or you to be happy because you like each other rather than women."

Blaine said, "Kurt's really lucky." He thought for a moment. "How did you and Anna do it -- go from high school to forever?"

"We didn't. Not directly. We were sensible. Broke up at the end of summer before she went off to Oberlin and I went to Detroit. I'd done my apprenticeship in high school, so I was union. I went up and worked on the line for a year, so I really learned how cars were put together. We saw each other on her spring break. It was right around my mother's birthday, so I came home for a weekend. When I got back to Detroit, I had a letter from her, saying she'd broken it off with her college boyfriend and wondering if we could see each other over the summer. That's when forever started." Burt smiled at his reminiscence. "I never asked her about him. She never asked about the girls I dated, and trust me, that was important too."

"So everything just fell into place when you got back together?"

Burt laughed. "See, that's how I know you're young. You don't seem it most of the time."

"You said…"

"Yeah, I did. We talked. There were times that summer, I moved back to Ohio, but I worked at refurbishing shops over an hour away from Oberlin, trying to increase my skills.

"We married at the end of her sophomore year because I found a job at a garage not too far away, and the married dorms were cheaper than two apartments. I took classes in accounting and small business from the community college up the street, and she took the maximum course load. She went through a five year BA/MA program in four years. I got my AA at the same time. And then we saved for the business and saved for a house and then decided we were ready for kids. Then it took us awhile to actually be able to have kids. But it's the talking and the planning and finding a way to do what you need to do and love to do together. We made a good life."

Blaine nodded. "Thank you."

"You ask good questions. I've got two last ones for you."

"Go ahead, sir. Burt."

"Do you like him? I don't mean are you attracted because, yeah, I've seen you two together and there are sparks, but do you like him. Are you friends?"

"Yes. It feels like we can talk about anything. Even if we disagree, we can talk about it," Blaine said.

"That's good. Do you love him?"

Blaine closed his eyes and nodded.

"Then I'll do my best for both of you. Since your dad's an asshole and all."

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, he is."

There was a shadow over the table.

"I hope I'm not too late for dessert," Kurt said.

Burt shot Blaine a look, and Blaine shook his head vehemently.

"Finn texted me about it a couple of days ago. Seriously, if you want something known, just tell Finn. Even if he's never heard of the people involved they'll know within forty-eight hours." Kurt sat down as soon as the waiter brought a chair.

Burt saw his son cover Blaine's hand with his own, and the little squeeze they shared. Maybe they'd be fond memories for each other someday. Maybe they'd be lucky enough to lie next to each other to the very end. Either way, they were good boys… young men, who cared about each other very much.

He smiled at them both and said, "So, Kurt, I know you won't let me have the cheesecake, but what about key lime pie?"


End file.
